A Hundred Little Instances
by Hyperbali
Summary: Forbidden love and shy gestures. Lasting scars and haunting memories. Follow the lives of a turian and a commander; each moment is captured within one sentence and these hundred sentences mark one hundred different moments neither of them can forget.


**A first step into the crazy world of online publishing, here is a massive pile-up of very short Garrus x Fem!Shep stories. Made by combining two sets of the 50-sentence '1sentence' creative prompts, this is the result of some serious boredom, Garrusfen tendencies, and a bit of creativity.  
The Commander Shepard here is one Caelie Erszebet Shepard, Colonist/Sole Survivor/Paragon/Commando. **

**My idea of her can be seen at my dA account so feel free to take a look!**

**Disclaimer, naturally: I don't own Mass Effect, Garrus, or the idea of Shepard: Bioware does.**

**Please enjoy!**

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01. Air  
She knows it really shouldn't be bothering her so much--after all, they're comrades--but each and every time he greets her with a simple and impersonal, "Good to see you, Commander," in the garage hull of the Normandy, she can't help but let out a disappointed breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding and pray he doesn't notice.

02. Apples  
He can't say the smell of the pastry gives him any sort of anticipation--as a turian, he simply can't eat stomach anything made for levo-amino creatures--but the way she sniffs the air and licks her lips when she spies the fruit tart in the mess hall makes him hunger for something entirely different.

03. Beginning  
Even after Captain Anderson ushers her away into the meeting with the Council, she spares a glance at the retreating blue-and-black-clad form behind her; this isn't the first time she'll be greeting this 'Garrus Vakarian', she just knows it.

04. Bugs  
The sight of the rachni soldier isn't exactly pleasant (they are supposed to be _extinct_, after all), but Garrus can't say he's complaining too much when his commanding officer takes a subconscious step towards him, her eyes widened in something akin to fear.

05. Coffee  
"It's really good," Caelie assures him when he gives that odd what-the-hell-is-that look to the steaming cup in her hands, "and hey, it has the added bonus of replacing a stimulant pack."

06. Dark  
Sometimes he finds himself quite grateful that the lighting above the MAKO is so poor; at least this way Shepard can't see the way he stares at her when she turns to speak to the commissions officer.

07. Despair  
She has to bite her pillow to keep from screaming when she suddenly wakes up from a restless sleep--Protheans-death-teeth-machine-Reapers-mom-dad-blood-screams--but at least he has the decency not to say anything when she instinctively leans into him for comfort.

08. Doors  
Her amused laughter is the only thing stopping him from telling Wrex _exactly_ what he thinks the mercenary should do with his assault rifle when the krogan shuts a door on him in the Wards _again_.

09. Drink  
Garrus never seemed like the type to indulge in alcohol; when he slumps against her in his apartment on the Citadel and promptly drifts to sleep, she starts to get a good idea as to why.

10. Duty  
While he may not entirely appreciate the C-Sec-inspired sense of duty instilled in him by his father, he can definitely appreciate the chivalry that came along with it when he impresses her.

11. Earth  
The view of the somewhat obscured orb of blue-white-green is enough to take her breath away when they land on Luna; she is too absorbed in the vision to notice her turian teammate isn't looking at the planet when he agrees the sight is spectacular.

12. End  
Maybe it's foolish for him to think so, but he swears he can see the faintest glimmer of dejection in her eyes when she asks what he's going to do after they catch Saren and he mentions going back to C-Sec; it's gone as quick as it came when he suggests he re-apply for Spectre training.

13. Fall  
Her heart freezes in her throat when she sees him falling off to the side after a particularly nasty shot from a Geth Juggernaut; when he takes the moment to simply inject a fresh pack of medi-gel, her universe starts to turn again and she turns her attention back to the scope of the sniper rifle.

14. Fire  
He had expected to see a massive array of destruction after they'd been delayed to respond to the distress call from the ship; when he sees the light of the blaze reflected in unshed tears, he thinks that maybe _she_ hadn't been.

15. Flexible  
The commander's eyes widen when she sees the way he bends to reach some of the smaller crannies beneath the vehicle; she quietly files the information away in the back of her mind, just in case.

16. Flying  
His stomach lurches as they launch into mid-air after accelerating too fast from a rocky hill, and he can't decide if he should be terrified or intrigued when all she does is grin and say she should have tried to put more boost into it.

17. Food  
Spending her evening hunched over a toilet and dry-heaving isn't exactly the way she'd wanted their evening to go, but she finds it a little endearing when he awkwardly offers to see Dr. Michel about treatments for food poisoning.

18. Foot  
Shepard's tiny toes and the pink softness of her feet seem so remarkably vulnerable--even with little scars and callouses dotted across the surface--that he can't help but lift them up for closer study whenever she walks around barefoot, much to her chagrin, if the helpless laughter is any indication.

19. Grave  
She really didn't know what to expect when they visited her parents' grave on the rebuilding Mindoir, but the way Garrus respectively bows before the marble and tells them he's doing his best to protect their daughter makes her think even her father would have been impressed, for all his xenophobia.

20. Green  
Whenever they port back at the Citadel and have a few hours for relaxation, everyone else quickly makes their way into the station for drinks or some relaxing games of quasar; he finds himself quite content to lay and become enraptured by the gleaming green of her eyes in the darkness of the commander's quarters.

21. Head  
The feather-like appendages atop a turian's head have always fascinated her; he dutifully acquiesces to sit when she requests to see his a little more closely, and she swears she can hear a faint humming--a purr, maybe--when her fingertips glide along the edges.

22. Hollow  
After a while of using every trick he could to get her spirits up--logic, complimenting, even bribery--he simply settles beside her and lays a comforting hand on her shoulder; though he's never dealt with having to watch an old friend commit suicide, he figures he'd be feeling pretty hollow, too.

23. Honor  
Hearing Garrus's stories and watching the old news vids concerning his father's work with C-Sec, she can see where he feels intimidated; in her opinion though, he's brought plenty of honor and more to the Vakarian name, disapproving parents be damned.

24. Hope  
Yes, it is a little hypocritical of him after watching Lieutenant Alenko blatantly hitting on the commander and silently chastising him for fraternization, but he can't help that sharp grasp of hope he feels when the woman rejects the biotic's advances, citing an interest in someone else.

25. Light  
She's always been sort of tall for a human woman, and it'd be a lie to say her muscles didn't supplement her weight a little more than she cared for, but when the turian easily picks her up for a firm hug--alone, of course--she feels small, and surprised to find she sort of likes it.

26. Lost  
Even after living on the Citadel for so long, Garrus can manage to get himself lost in the Wards, and it's discomforting; he starts to relax when she tells him getting lost gives them a little more time away from the rest of the crew.

27. Metal  
Long before Caelie had even begun to think of a possible relationship between the two of them, she always supposed a turian's skin would be rather cold and metallic; the discovery of it being rather warm and pliant to the touch is enough to make her gasp, and she has to quickly make up an excuse when he looks at her rather quizzically.

28. New  
Interspecies relationships are still rather unheard of in Citadel space, especially between turians and humans; his arm tightens around her protectively as they encounter yet another shocked and disgusted passerby during their walk on the Presidium, but the soft squeeze of her hand on the small of his back calms him down again.

29. Old  
When she finally asks him how old he is, his response comes as sort of a surprise; she'd honestly expected him to be a lot older, for some reason--or at least, older than her.

30. Peace  
Through all of their adventuring, all the struggle and gunfights, he had to admit her techniques for dealing with enemies were rather unorthodox for a Spectre; even if the negotiations hardly ever worked, he admired her attempts to use violence only as a last resort.

31. Poison  
It's hard to imagine a relationship functioning between the two of them--hell, the food they eat together at lunch could probably kill each other if they switched the plates--but she holds his hand across the table and thinks they can make it work.

32. Pretty  
She is beautiful, yes--the lascivious looks from human males, including members of the Normandy crew, is enough to confirm it--but the first time he calls her pretty, and she responds with a sweet smile instead of ignoring the comment or looking indignant as she'd done with others, he can't help feeling just a little bit smug.

33. Rain  
No one on the ship has _ever _seen her cry--not even Dr. Chakwas, and she's their medic, for crying out loud--but sometimes the pressure gets to be a little too much, what with Saren and the geth, the Reapers and everyone from one end of the galaxy to the other crying out for her help; hidden behind the sleeper pods, she sobs with abandon, unaware that someone else is watching and wishing he could comfort her.

34. Regret  
"Do you regret anything," she asks as they pick through the desolate ruins of Ilos, knowing the end is near, and he doesn't even bother to hesitate as he replies, "Only that we had to meet under such strained circumstances."

35. Roses  
When she finds the oddly-colored flowers carefully stashed into her locker it makes her wonder if Kaiden is still trying to win her over; the way Garrus avoids her eyes and seems almost flustered when she mentions them to him assures her this is not the case.

36. Secret  
Looking across the garage hull and seeing her whispering quietly with Gunnery Chief Williams, their conversation interjected with a stifled giggle every now and then, he locks eyes with Wrex and makes an expression as if to say "Guess it's one of those human things"--in all honesty, he's pretty relieved that some of the commander's secrets don't have to involve her looking stricken.

37. Snakes  
As she watches the entertainment vids of clowns and scantily-clad circus girls with pythons crawling all over them from back on Earth, she scoffs and remarks that they haven't known true danger until they've seen an irritated turian.

38. Snow  
He's never seen a single snowflake in his entire life--Palaven's not exactly known for cold weather--so it isn't really all that surprising when he slips on a patch of ice on Klensal; at least she isn't laughing at him when she helps him get back up again.

39. Solid  
For a brief moment between the gunfire and noise, she chances a quick look at him; the sight of him kneeling behind the errant block of stone, his assault rifle clutched in unwavering arms as he stares at the battlefield with such intensity is enough to make her blush before the shatter of a bullet dangerously close to her cheek forces her to focus once more.

40. Spring  
His head is pounding, his entire body hurts, and damn if he isn't going to be feeling the previous evening's activities over the next few days--but if he can get the commander to do _that_ again after she'd caught an oblivious asarian hitting on him at Chora's Den, it'll be totally worth the pain.

41. Stable  
She's still shaking long after they left Rear Admiral Kahoku's body laying in the Cerberus research lab; it isn't until a long while of feeling his arms wrapped securely around her that the tremors begin to slow.

42. Strange  
Garrus can't pinpoint what exactly it is about the commander that draws him to her--the human culture is fairly foreign to him, her actions surprise him in situations where he would have taken an entirely different route--but when she rolls over and her soft, contented sigh brushes warm air across his cheek, he can say he's alright with a little mystery.

43. Summer  
Wearing a sundress in the middle of an entirely inappropriate season to do so doesn't make much sense to her at first; when she sees the expression on his face when they meet up at the Presidium, she admits that maybe it'll be alright to pretend it's summer, just this once.

44. Taboo  
Being with her is wrong in so many ways; fraternization in the ranks, tension between the turians and the humans long after the Relay 314 Incident, she's a spectre and he's a quitter from C-Sec--all of these seem like such good reasons to dismiss his feelings, but if it's so wrong, why does he feel so _right_?

45. Ugly  
Caelie had been trying as long as she could to keep him from seeing her bare back; when he finally sees the long, garish scar stretched between freckled shoulder blades left over from the Akuze Massacre, she nearly cries out loud when he lowers his head to plant a kiss on the sensitive tissue.

46. War  
He watches her carefully as they stand on the bridge above the krogan breeding grounds on Virmire; she may have saved Wrex's life earlier, but there is no way they're going to be able to get off of this planet without the sacrifice of at least one of her beloved human comrades; her eyes flinch as the scream of "I need a decision _now_, Commander," shrieks over their comm system, and he's pretty sure he can tell what she's thinking when she finally opens her mouth to speak: war is hell, after all.

47. Water  
The water pounding onto her head from the shower head has long gone cold, but she doesn't possess the strength to stand up and turn it off; when he finally enters the room and picks her up, wrapping her in a large, warm towel, she doesn't even bother to admonish him for treating her like a child--she's glad for the company of someone who doesn't hate her nearly as much as she hates herself at the moment.

48. Welcome  
The death of Dr. Saleon is what he wanted, ultimately, even though he's not sure what to feel after Shepard had spent so much time trying to convince the salarian bastard to surrender quietly; he tries to voice his gratitude but nothing comes, so he's even more grateful after she whispers a gentle, "You're welcome."

49. Winter  
She knows he probably hasn't even the faintest idea of what Christmas is, and she really wasn't expecting anything from the holiday anyway; her surprise is palpable when he presents her with a highly expensive mod for her sniper rifle, and when she asks him why, he replies, "T'is the season, right?"

50. Wood  
There's not a single tree anywhere on the Normandy, and he's not really familiar with them in general, but as she leans into him, telling stories of campfires and rope-tied swings on Mindoir, he's quite content to close his eyes and imagine.

51. Crave  
He doesn't remember when he started feeling so _warm_ whenever she gave him attention, but as the elevator opens and her black-booted feet stride into the garage hull, he tries not to look too pleased when he hears her footsteps approaching him.

52. None  
"Isn't there _someone_ you're with, Commander--that attractive lieutenant of yours, perhaps," the reporter titters as she stops their small squad by the elevator for the docking bay; Caelie spares a glance back to the irritated turian off to her right before answering with a snippy "Not your business," pushing past the perturbed woman.

53. Glue  
Curled up in his bed on the Citadel with a very nude and freckled body tangled in his limbs, Garrus is pretty sure even rampaging krogan would not be enough to tear him away from the mattress.

54. Wet  
Her lips are far too moist--she licks them too much, it's an awful nervous habit--but luckily, it doesn't seem like he minds too much.

55. Fame  
Seeing the way Conrad Verner's eyes practically bore a hole through the commander's armor, he takes a futile moment to wish her fame wouldn't inspire such...unsatisfactory admirers.

56. Instant  
She's never believed in love at first sight, not in a million years would she ever--but she does give some belief to attraction at first spoken word.

57. Hold  
The first time she asks him to hold her, it's practically an order; after a while, all it takes is a simple look for him to wrap her in his arms.

58. Fish  
Leaning just a little too far over to see the aquatic life in the lake on the Presidium had taken Caelie right off the railing and into the water below; of course she's annoyed when she hears his helpless laughter above on the bridge, but she still cracks a smile.

59. Don't  
There are plenty of things he wants to tell her to do, most of which are highly inappropriate to say to a commanding officer; don't be so patient, don't act like it doesn't hurt you, don't be so forgiving of others--but the first time he dares to contradict her is when he lets out a heavily gasped, "Don't stop."

60. Ego  
The first time he tells her of the horrors of Dr. Saleon, she feels a little sick to her stomach and a desire to stop him, as well--but after thinking about it a while, she figures his reasons for punishment might go beyond the things he did to his workers, and knows Garrus wouldn't be able to deny it if she questioned him.

61. Flow  
The Normandy is going far too fast for him to see anything but colors when he looks out from the viewport; for the briefest of moments, time is just flowing over them, and he doesn't have to think about what's going to be waiting for them on the other side.

62. Dream  
No one but Liara can even imagine what sorts of things she sees in her dreams nowadays, and even if they both get frustrated when she tries to explain that much to him, she's glad he still tries to understand.

63. Action  
When she asks him, "You've been in C-Sec a while--you seen much action," he tries to keep the suggestive tone from his voice when he replies, "Well, not as much as you..."

64. Enough  
He tries way too hard to please her, to be the best he can possibly be under her command; is it too much to ask for him to see that him being with her is enough?

65. Flatter  
Of course he knows flattery would never work on her: this is why he lets a small smirk slide to his face when the human corporal's compliments of beauty to Shepard aren't enough to keep him out of latrine duty.

66. Metaphor  
She can't possibly even begin to understand the tiniest nuances of turian language; even then, when she feels his gentle murmurs against her bare shoulder, she knows exactly what he's saying.

67. Teach  
The relationship began as something entirely different; he never had a truly dependable mentor in his life, and looked to her for guidance--even with her seniority over him, he quickly learned that she intended to be his student in return.

68. Demand  
At the beginning, Caelie had a sinking feeling she would have to translate everything she wanted him to do to her as a direct order; when he shows her something pretty interesting he can do with his talons on human skin, she's overwhelmingly relieved to find he can figure things out on his own.

69. Inspire  
Garrus had never pinned her as someone interested in the past as much as she was, but after watching her pore over alien textbooks with an interested spark in her eyes, he decides then and there he wants to find out just what makes her tick.

70. Unrequited  
Sometimes she has dreams of him rejecting her, of showing disgust at her approaches and deserting the ship the first chance he gets; they are the ones that make her scream loudest when she wakes.

71. Classic  
Things dating from the twentieth century and earlier are beyond antiques now, they're practically _ancient_--yet when he stumbles on her blasting 'La Traviata' in her room as she moves about in what seems to be dancing, he has to admit some things can translate fairly well to modern times.

72. Far  
They descend into Attican Beta on their way to Feros, and she takes a moment to gaze back at Mindoir as they pass it; the sixteen-year-old Caelie Shepard would probably rather have died than see what she would become at twenty-nine.

73. May  
He'd never expected her to come to him to ask permission for _anything_, especially since she was the commander and what she did was her own business, but he still lets out a confused "You may" when she asks if they can just sit down and talk a while.

74. Breadth  
Even after countless trips back and forth to the Citadel, she still can't get over how /immense/ it is, and she always insists on making Garrus tag along, convinced he can give a far better tour than Avina ever could.

75. Wrench  
'Throwing a monkey wrench into the works' is a purely human expression, but he still feels like it's the best way to describe how things might end up if anyone on the Normandy were to figure out his interest in her.

76. Cheat  
Quasar had piqued her curiosity, that was to be sure--it was very similar to blackjack, and she'd turned out to be pretty good at that--but after watching him win another game off to the side while her machine simply took in more credits, she wonders if his good fortune is entirely luck or if she just sucks at this.

77. Scent  
Maybe he's just imagining things, but he's fairly convinced there's some kind of pheromone Shepard releases whenever they go out on the battlefield; how else would he be so tempted to be distracted?

78. Pastel  
Her absolute favorite colors are bright yellows and oranges, but some colors just _don't _blend well--the turian Liberator armor is very good evidence for it, she thinks.

79. Artist  
He never really considered himself a patron of the arts, seeing them as a sideline to the big picture of life; as she cycles through some of her favorite paintings and sculptures when they have a little downtime, he thinks he might be willing to learn a little more.

80. Sorrow  
For a while it was Mindoir, then it was Akuze; at least now when she has nightmares about the Reapers' plans for the destruction of all organic life, someone else is still alive and understands.

81. Path  
The "good Doctor Heart" is standing just a few feet away; his death is so close he can just /feel/ it--but then he sees the stern look on the commander's face--"Put the damn gun down, Garrus,"--and for the first time in a long while, his resolve starts to slip.

82. Confess  
"Would you like to get a drink with me" became "Do you want to come back to my apartment," which suddenly turned into "I can't imagine doing any of this without you," and she sort of regretted blurting any of it out, but he answered her positively every time.

83. Acceptance  
Garrus hesitated a moment as he lowered his hand from the outburst--he had been a little too heated making his case as to why he wanted to track Saren down, and he worried it would have the adverse effect on Shepard--so it came as a relief when the expression on her face softened and she held her hand out to welcome him to her crew.

84. Yet  
Citadel space is still a long way from accepting interspecies relationships (other than those involving the asari) as "normal," but she'd never really settled for normal to begin with.

85. Shiver  
He typically complains about the temperature when they land on an extremely hot or cold planet; he watches her bending down to survey a large deposit of magnesium on Antibaar without so much as a shudder and has to wonder how she became so strong-willed.

86. Hero  
She hardly cares for the hero worship that came along after she dealt with Akuze and Eden Prime--could really rather do without it--but she is at least a little grateful her fame made the introductions for her when they first met in the Citadel Tower.

87. Body  
For the longest time all they do is just stare at each other--after all, they've never seen the opposite species without armor or uniforms before--and finally he realizes that yes, there was a reason for stripping down other than an impromptu anatomy lesson.

88. Man  
He doesn't quite meet the official definition of it, but Caelie thinks he's the most honorable man she's ever had the pleasure of meeting.

89. Pretend  
Whenever he sends the occasional vid-mail to his father, he has to pretend there isn't anything going on considering himself and "that awful human Spectre," and it seems like Garrus is getting to be a really good actor.

90. Curious  
The turian looks absolutely stricken and maybe a little bit pissed, but she doesn't understand _why_--she just wanted to see what the big deal with dextro-amino-based alcohol was.

91. Different  
He supposes it's at _that_ moment when he says something specifically keyed to his attraction for her; to anyone else, it would be a sign of respect, but the underlying tone of "You're not quite like anyone I've ever met, Commander..." is very telling, for those who know how to hear between the lines.

92. Smooth  
Everyone in the comm room is frozen into silence after the commander's abrupt words; Ashley tries to cool the tension by glancing over at Kaidan and offering a "Very _smooth_, Skipper," and Shepard flushes somewhat in embarrassment--although not quite for the reason everyone else might be thinking of.

93. Right  
They've been squabbling over which direction the mercenary camp is in for over ten minutes now; Wrex finally slams a massive fist against the weapons control panel and demands they hurry up and get started _right this fucking minute_--Garrus shares a wide-eyed look with the woman beside him and decides maybe he should just let her deal with directions when the krogan is nearby.

94. Damn  
Laying on the bed and staring at the darkened ceiling above her, she finds she can only manage to utter a single word; the turian officer nods mutely in agreement.

95. Desire  
Their talk hadn't really yielded anything too particular of interest, and the worst part was it had ended with her snapping at him for dismissing the rules and regulations of C-Sec; he almost works himself up to call her back, but by the time he finally has enough wits about him to call her name, the door to Engineering closes resolutely behind her.

96. Ritual  
The discovery of the turian insignias and learning more history about the Unification War has given her a lot more insight about the peculiar tattoos most of his species wear upon the rigid cartilage of their faces, but she doubts anyone could pull off thick lines of blue quite like he can.

97. Color  
He's never seen quite that shade of red in human hair before, and when he mentions it she asks if he would like her to prove it's natural--she has to explain what she means before he quickly excuses himself from the room, leaving a chuckling Shepard behind.

98. Visit  
Of course she always makes it a point to visit with Captain Anderson whenever they return to the Citadel, and he always seems pleased to see her; but even their good social standing with each other isn't enough to keep her from taking a long gulp of tea and pretending she didn't hear him when he asks why Garrus is in almost every report she sends to the Council.

99. Belong  
It doesn't seem like anything good belongs on Ilos; he figures she feels the same way when he sees her suppress a fit of nausea and hastily orders him to move faster.

100. Bully  
She had been _very_ irritated when he told her about his "interviews" of Saleon's former workers, but she can't shake off her interest in seeing a smug and predatory Garrus Vakarian.


End file.
